Archive for the ‘Indian Education’ Category

« Older Entries

e-Learning (8 C’s ) – Shiksha : Education Equity through technology tools

March 12, 2007

“The illerate of the 21 century will not to be those who can not read and write but those who can not learn, unlearn & relearn”- Alvin Toffler  

Dear Friends,  This is a very nice e-Learning Model for facilitating education through technology tool with synergetic efforts of all stakeholders.    CII-Shiksha has created an 8 component model to deliver the program and to ensure a meaningful impact on the teaching-learning process in the schools.The schools put in their efforts by way of three components which are Computers, Connectivity and Commitment. CII-Shiksha provides Content , Coaching and Communication  components – Creativity and Collaboration. components to the program. The outcome of the mutual contribution are the two. 

Pillars of e- Learning 8 Component Model:

  1. Creativity
  2. Communication
  3. Collaborations
  4. Commitment
  5. Computers
  6. Connectivity
  7. Contents
  8. Coaching

Program Details: http://shikshaindia.org/details.html

CII-Shiksha Motto-Five all’s: 

  • Covering all – catering to all categories of academic institutes
  • Open to all – sharing of source code
  • All states
  • All Languages
  • All subjects

 Objective of Shiksha India:

·      To equip schools with Shiksha platform comprising of Content, Coaching and Communication.

·      To develop a network of like minded partners (organisations, institutes and individuals) and facilitate to bring in their expertise to the Shiksha schools, in terms of manpower, resources, projects/programs, etc.

·      To develop a network of schools and provide with a platform to combine their efforts and reach common identified goals without efforts being  duplicated and resources being  wasted.

·      To provide a forum for students and teachers across the country to collaborate, share and showcase their creativity.

·      To  network with other similar initiative and provide special synergies for the schools in the Shiksha network

Source: http://shikshaindia.org/index.html

Ajay Singh Niranjan Email: ajay_uor (at) yahoo (dot) com

********************************************** “Knowledge and ignorance are the two unborn ones. One is the ruler and the other, the ruled. Apart from these two, there is another who is also unborn and who is connected with the enjoyer and his enjoyment. And then there is the infinite self, the universal form, who is non-doer. When one knows this triad, one has known Brahman (cosmic consciousness).”- Upanishad

Effective Artciles which align to above article. Kindly link and share your expereince.

——-||||||Effective Quotations by Great Thinker||||||——- 

 Gearge Bernard Shaw:::Mahatma Gandhi ::: Swami VivekanandaPeter F. Drucker :::Warren Bennis ::: Jack Welch

Posted in e Learning, Education, India, Indian Education, Indian NGO, Rural Development, Teachnical Education, Technology | 1 Comment »

i Watch – Education First – Transforming India

March 12, 2007

Dear Friends,

I am happy to share that the book of “i watch: Transforming India” 2007 edition has been formulated  in a very concrete, simple and concise manner by a team of intellectuals through extensive research work in these focused areas .This book is available in 13 indian languages.  

Focus of ” i watch -Transforming India”:  

Human Resource , Education & Training: Holistic human development , education matrix of India, primary education & 100% functional literacy , Vocational education & training-the real winner for India, Advantage of enterprise skill development  & vocational education.

Employment Generation: HRD-Employment & Unemployment, Employment matrix of India, Employment generation thru’ VET, Employment generation through SME’s, Employemnt Generation implementation of VET.   

Economy & Enterprise: The real & virtual India, Poverty line & related data, How to plans for world markets? A chek list, Definition of Small medium enterprise, India must become an international Hub, Important of SMEs. China-India comparison chart, catch me if you can, comparision with selected countries.

Governance & Administration: the India you may not know, Transforming India: Agenda for change, Economic & business reform, Governance & administration of India, Good governance can transfer India into a superpower, Good governance + Effective administration = Zero corruption, World class governance-why & how India must do it.   

– Edited, Published and Printed for i Watch by Krishan Khanna.   i Watch – Education 1st , www.wakeupcall.org 

Kindly contact me for complete information & details of i watch-Transformaing India book. 

Ajay Singh Niranjan

i Watch – Education First – Transforming India

Email :  ajay_uor (at) yahoo (dot) com

********************************************** “Knowledge and ignorance are the two unborn ones. One is the ruler and the other, the ruled. Apart from these two, there is another who is also unborn and who is connected with the enjoyer and his enjoyment. And then there is the infinite self, the universal form, who is non-doer. When one knows this triad, one has known Brahman (cosmic consciousness).”- Upanishad

Effective Artciles which align to above article. Kindly link and share your expereince.

~Ajay Singh Niranjan ~   

Posted in Education, Employement Generation, Entrepreneurship, Governance, India, Indian Education, Indian NGO, Skill Development, Vocational Education | 1 Comment »

Holistic Development – [ Integrate : SQ + EQ + IQ + PQ = True Knowledge]

March 4, 2007

Holistic Development – [ Integrate: SQ + EQ + IQ + PQ = True Knowledge ]

  A beautiful insight about PQ, IQ, EQ and SQ by Prof. Stephan R. Covey

Physical Intelligence: Wise nutrition, Consistence balance exercises Proper rest, relaxation, stress management and preventing. 

 Mental intelligent: Continuous, systematic, disciplined study and education Cultivation of self awareness, learning by teaching and doing. 

Emotional intelligent: Self awareness, Personal motivation, Self regulation, Empathy, Social skill.

Spiritual Intelligence: Integrity ( Character building ) ,Meaning ( Purpose of life ),Voice( Self Enlightenment and motivate to other )  .

Effective Artciles which align to above article. Kindly link and share your expereince.

~© Ajay Singh Niranjan

Posted in Bhagvat Gita, Child Development, Education, Holistic Development, Indian Education, Indian Management, Meditation, Mind, Prayer, Skill Development, Upanishad, Vedanta, yoga | 9 Comments »

Five focus areas of the knowledge paradigm: NKC

March 1, 2007

 Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high …– Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

The National Knowledge Commission is a high-level advisory body to the Prime Minister of India, with the objective of transforming India into a knowledge society.

The overarching aim of the National Knowledge Commission is to enable the development of a vibrant knowledge based society. This entails both a radical improvement in existing systems of knowledge, and creating avenues for generating new forms of knowledge.Greater participation and more equitable access to knowledge across all sections of society are of vital importance in achieving these goals.In view of the above, the NKC seeks to develop appropriate institutional frameworks to:

  • Strengthen the education system, promote domestic research and innovation, facilitate knowledge application in sectors like health, agriculture, and industry.
  • Leverage information and communication technologies to enhance governance and improve connectivity.
  • Devise mechanisms for exchange and interaction between knowledge systems in the global arena.

It covers sectors ranging from education to e-governance in the five focus areas of the knowledge paradigm:

Kindly download these beautiful papers : Full Report  

All chapters

Access-Concepts-Creation-Applications-services

Access : Literacy,Language,Translation,Libraries Networks, Portals

Concepts: School Education ,Vocational Education, Higher Education, Medical Education ,Legal Education, Management Education, Engineering Education, Open and Distance Education

Creation : Science and Technology,Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs),Innovation, Entrepreneurship

Application: Traditional Knowledge ,Agriculture 

Services: e-Governance 

Resources

E-Governance, Traditional Knowledge, Agriculture, Rural Sector and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, Higher Education, Literacy

Reference: –

Report : http://knowledgecommission.gov.in/report2006/default.asp

Focus Areas: http://knowledgecommission.gov.in/focus/default.asp

Resources : http://knowledgecommission.gov.in/resources/default.asp

********************************************** “Knowledge and ignorance are the two unborn ones. One is the ruler and the other, the ruled. Apart from these two, there is another who is also unborn and who is connected with the enjoyer and his enjoyment. And then there is the infinite self, the universal form, who is non-doer. When one knows this triad, one has known Brahman (cosmic consciousness).”- Upanishad

Effective Artciles which align to above article. Kindly link and share your expereince.

~Ajay Singh Niranjan ~

Posted in Education, India, Indian Education, Indian Management, Vocational Education | 9 Comments »

SWOT MATRIX of INDIA: Analysis of Indian Social- Economic- Political- Technological conditions.

January 31, 2007

Dear Friends,  

There are few questions about our complex & unique system of India. How we can change our system thinking? How we can make a synergetic triangle: Industry-GOI- Institution for co creation of knowledgeable resources for evolution of innovations. 

Root Causes – Why Plans are not execute at the bottom? Constrains – Where are missing link?

Strategy & tactics – What is the action plans? Methods-how these actions plans execute for achieving the end Goal.

Kindly download one page colored framework of SWOT MATRIX of INDIA. URL: syenrgetic-trinangle-industry-government-instituion.docsyenrgetic-trinangle-industry-government-instituion.doc  

SW0T   ANALYSIS:

                  Industry-GOVERNMENT -institution

 STRENGTHS 

  • Highly educated , skilled ,young, capable & dynamic  human resources
  • English speaking & analytical students
  • World class business-social-spiritual –political leader, Professor, scientist, Manager-Doctor-Engineer-Civil servants etc
  • Very rich in  Natural & Living resources
  • Biodiversity & Traditional knowledge base
  • Diversity vs. Ideas-Innovation-Integration
  • Powerful spiritual strength (yoga-Ayurvada-Healing-therapy services)
  • Geographical location (whole markets are shifting toward Asian nations)
  • India Strategic position at various platforms
  • Big democracy, Big market & free media
  • Range of emerging professional champions
  • IT & Software superpower

WEAKNESSES: 

  • Lack of trained & skill work force  
  • Small supply of specialize professional
  • Lack of spirits of entrepreneurship, patriotisms and leadership skill
  • Lack of effective & execution framework
  • Lack of Indian management models
  • Lack of transparency-Trust-Responsibility
  • Lack of learning habits & Team work spirit
  • Fear of sharing knowledge & taking risk
  • Thinking win-lose   lose-win   look-outside
  • Slow absorption of Innovation & change
  • Lack of Indian management models
  • Absence of greater technology impetus
  • Unawareness: Quality-Standardization
  • Lack of Emotional-Spiritual development
  • Rush of getting high marks not Development
  • Blindly respect anything taught by elders

THREATS (Internal & external): 

  • A feeling of unstable government
  • Self centered political leadership
  • Slow & Dysfunctional judiciary and corrupt law enforcers
  • Regulation, protection and restriction
  • Mechanistic -stable-Layered-complex system
  • Corruption, Ignorance & Complacency
  • High competitive & marketing forces
  • To patent Indian intellectual property by outsider (unawareness about own research)
  • Fast change Internet-information technology& new Inventions-Technology-Innovations
  • Diversity vs. Imbalance- clashes
  • Regional-Religion-caste-culture conflicts
  • Migration of all branch to software job
  • Job seeking mind sets, not job creator
  • Unnecessary social pressure on students
  • Excessive rich & powerful mindsets

 OPPORTUNITIES 

  • Big potential market in education Sector & emerging new market Segment in services (create it)   
  • General Agreement of trade on Services
  • Research & Development capability
  • Generate intellectual property
  • Resource Building capacity
  • Competition- cost – Quality service

  • Collaboration : win-win thinking
  • Hybrid solution–balancing & blending
  • Tourism, health sector, food processing
  • Rural economy development & social transformation ( PURA model )
  • Need  modernization of infrastructure , Library and laboratory
  • Internet institute network & e-Library
  • Councilors and student advisors

Key:
India has lots of weakness but this is a space of thinking (new Ideas or new perceptions), understand it as a space of opportunities and transform into strength.  

Note: Please send your suggestions, experiences & questions for improvement of this SWOT MATRIX of India. 

Ajay Singh Niranjan ( ajay_uor@yahoo.com)

Posted in Change management, Education, Employement Generation, Entrepreneurship, India, Indian Education, Indian NGO, Innovation, Management Practices, Management Techniques, Research & Development, Rural Development, Skill Development, Teachnical Education, Vision 2020, Vocational Education | 36 Comments »

Pratham:Educating the government

January 29, 2007

Pratham shook up the world of education in India with its path-breaking survey in 2005, and it has now released the 2006 report. The findings of this report are striking and important. In rural India, of 100 children in the age group 7-16, the survey finds that 71.3 go to a government school while 18.5 per cent go to a private school.

The share of private schools has grown sharply—by around two percentage points—over the last one year. It is believed that the shift to private schools is driven by three kinds of reasons. First, government schools have low-quality teaching. Second, government schools are mostly not English medium. Third, Dalits and Muslims are often not welcome at government schools.

Parents choose between free government schools, which are extremely well-funded, and expensive, under-funded private schools. It is important to notice that this is a survey of rural India, where a private “school” is often little more than a few benches under a tree.

Government schools are backed by the state with massive expenditures. The fact that parents choose to pay money to send a child to a private school, when they have the option of paying nothing at a government school, speaks volumes for the failure of the government education system. At all ages, more boys are sent to private schools.

In Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, UP, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Goa and Kerala, the fraction of children going to private schools exceeds 30 per cent. In other words, spending more on government schools might not be the best way for politicians to curry favour with voters.

Pratham has also done important work on measuring what children actually learn, as opposed to the enrolment rates trumpeted by the government. The picture is downright dismal. Skills that ought to be found by the 2nd standard are often achieved only by the 8th standard. This raises serious questions about the UPA’s decision to impose an education cess and spend more on Sarva Shiksha Ahibyan.

It is unjust for a government to impose taxes, and then spend only for government schools, giving citizens no choice about how their children should be educated. It would make much more sense for public expenditures to be placed under the control of parents: going to the school that parents choose, ideally with a performance-based payment linked to the test scores of the child. The education bureaucracy will not like this.

The CPI(M) excels at converting government expenditures into party funding, by recruiting party cadre as school teachers. This tactic will not work if parents are empowered. What India needs most today is a policy which puts parents back at the centre of education policy.

If reports such as this had been produced 50 years ago, and fed back into policy-making, India might not have faced mass illiteracy today, rooted as it is in badly designed public programmes like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

The biggest weakness of the Pratham report is that it only covers rural India. India’s GDP is largely made in urban India, and the problems of urban India too are important. What children learn, and the role of private schools, are equally important in urban areas since they are after all the engines of growth.

Source : 11 Jan 2007, Business Standard

Posted in Indian Education, Indian NGO | 1 Comment »

Education First – Making INDIA a Knowledge Economy

January 28, 2007

It is necessary to first understand the entire “Matrix” in education. Even after 59 years of Independence, the following situation remains as far as the Human Capital Development of our country is concerned:-

  1. Drop-out rate in schools from KG to 10+2 is (including those who never attended school) 90% to 94%.  
  2. China has about 1.80 million schools, while we have in India about 1.20 million schools!
  3. The “Governance” in Government run schools is very low. In many cases teachers are absent (15% to 60% absenteeism) from schools in rural and urban schools of India and are paid full wages and perks in spite of this! Studies have shown that even the poorest of the poor rather send their children to un-aided schools where fees have to be paid and not to government run free schools. The quality of schooling of such unaided schools is higher than Government schools although the salary of Government teachers is two to three times higher than the teachers of the un-aided schools.See articles and solutions on governance at www.wakeupcall.org
  4. The existing Indian definition of Literacy (if you can write your name you are literate) needs to be amended to International Standards. This criteria is used in the census for determining the literacy rate.
  5. As per the Ministry of HRD the present illiteracy is ONLY 37% or 430 million people, while as per UNICEF and UNDP it is nearly 60% or 650 million people. China has a Literacy rate of about 93%.
  6. The first step of making India a knowledge economy is literacy and needs to be given A1 priority.
  7. The total amount spent on education is about Rs. 91,000 crores per year. 15% by the Central Govt. and 85% by the State Governments The Education Cess will collect another Rs. 7000 crores per year. This is about 3.3% of GDP. The MHRD has calculated that another Rs. 40,000 crores per year would be required only for additional requirements for Primary Education!
  8. We estimate that another Rs. 100,000 crores are required per year just to have reasonable quality of Primary and Secondary education, up to Class 10th., which is where the Central and State Governments should concentrate for the next 10 to 20 years, or till we have at least 95% Literacy and at least 80% of the population who are completing the High School stage or Class 10th.
  9. As per our estimates the total expenditure for education is nearly 8% of GDP, about 3.3% from Government and about 4.7% from private participation. This includes funding of unaided schools and colleges + bribes and capitation fees + payment for students studying abroad + tuition classes +coaching classes +private I.T. & Software training institutes. Most of this private funding is confined to urban areas where only 30% stay.
  10. About 7% to 8% of the youth who finish the 10+2 stage (pre-university) enter the17, 960 colleges of India. 70% of all graduates are B.A. or Arts graduates. Is this relevant today? Most of these so called graduates are not-employable.
  11. Of all new employment taking place nearly 60% are self employed. About New Employment – 1% is with government, 2% with the private ‘organized sector’ and 97% with the ‘unorganized sector’.
  12. Presently there is little connect between education and employment generation & quality of Life
  13. The employers associations, chambers of commerce and other business organizations are fragmented. There is no “National Common Minimum Program” for “education and training of manpower” in India. In most developed and developing countries the Chambers of Commerce (who represent the employers and business) Lead from the front.
  14. About 26 million people are added every year to the existing education system, which is like adding another Australia + Hong Kong + Singapore & UAE per year!
  15. Presently both the Central Government as well as the State Governments are running in Financial Deficits, of about 9% to 11% of GDP, so the question of additional financing for education will strain not only the existing budgets but also put pressure on other sectors, where funds are being presently allocated.
  16. “Licence Raj” runs all Higher & Technical Education in India. Let us Bench-Mark with USA, Germany and Japan, the three largest economies of the World account for nearly 50% of the world’s GDP.  Do their governments exert similar controls as we have in India? Can we learn from them? There is fierce competition between the institutions in these countries for excellence!
  17. China has about 900 Universities, while we in India have 362 Universities. USA has 3600 and Japan has 4000!
  18. In India, the fees of the courses, pay-scales to the teachers, appointment of the head of the Institution and the syllabus, are decided by the 58 or more Central and State-Government Boards of Education. Will this create innovation, excellence  and world class students?
  19. The Coaching Business is getting bigger than the Education Business, entrance examinations for the IIT’s, IIM’s and a few prestigious  management schools attract about 600,000 applications (who spend nearly Rs.2.00 lac each for pre-coaching, amounting to Rs.12,000 crores per year, for 6000 seats. These institutions spend hardly Rs.800 to Rs.1,100 crores per year, as their teaching budgets!
  20. While 75% to 85% the youth of the developed and developing world learn a skill or competence or trade between the ages of 14 to 35, by Vocational Education & training, in India it is hardly covers 3% to 4% of the population!
  21. India has about 5000 ITI’s (Ministry of Labour) and about 5000 Vocational schools (Ministry of HRD), while China has about 500,000 senior secondary vocational schools!
  22. India has 300 million able bodied unemployed between the ages of 18 to 50, but they have no skill sets and therefore not employable! Employers in India are facing a huge shortage of skilled manpower. Wages and salaries in India, of skilled manpower are going up too fast. India will not be able to take advantage of the demographic profile of its population, if the youth do not receive relevant and quality Education & Training.
  23. We have not seen any co-ordination between the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of HRD as far as VET planning on a National level, is concerned
  24. We in India have NOT still appreciated the fact that, world wide, Education is 5 times or 500% bigger than I.T. or software!
  25. India can become an Educational Hub for the world and earn US$ 100 billion per year, after 10 to 20 years! We need to start now, but remove “Licence Raj” first, as was done for business in 1991! India has 7,700 foreign students while Australia has 383,000 foreign students!
  26. Because of the “Licence Raj” in Higher and Technical Education, it is estimated that nearly 70,000 to 90,000 students leave India every year for studying abroad. At any given time these 320,000 students cost the country a foreign exchange out flow of nearly US$9.6 billion per year or nearly Rs. 45,000 crores per year, enough to build 40 IIM’s or 20 IIT’s per year. Nearly 1,20,00 students leave India every year for foreign studies.
  27. The present problem of reservation will not solve the needs and aspirations of the youth. India needs a larger number of educational Institutions, seats and higher quality in the area of Higher & Technical education. Rationing, quotas and reservation can never address the actual situation. The Central and State governments are strapped for funds even for Primary and Secondary education. The solution lies in complete decontrol of all forms of Higher & Technical education; the same way as business was delicensed in1991!
  28. Since 1947 we have tried reservation and controls in the allocation of steel, cement, colour TV’s, airline tickets, cars, scooters, etc and have failed. Only increase of supply and decontrol has finally solved these issues.

If INDIA has to become a Knowledge Economy we need to do the following:

  1. Aim for 95% to 100% Literacy in the next 10 years
  2. Decontrol and involve the management of all primary schools to the local bodies such as Panchayats, Village Groups, Municipalities and local Citizen Groups. Allow the community to manage.
  3. Consider the use and issue of “Education Coupons” for school children, so that they can choose the schools of their choice and funding from the government, which would have been dispersed for the funding of Government run schools in rural and urban India, should be paid out. See www.ccsindia.org
  4. Scrap “Licence Raj” in Higher & Technical Education, after and including class 11th, to allow innovation, creativity and excellence in Education. See www.epsfi.org
  5. Ensure that 80% to 90% of the population in the age group of 14 years to 50 years goes in for some sort of relevant Vocational Education & Training. See www.wakeupcall.org
  6. Allow starting of Enterprise Skills Education, ESD, from Class 5th to the 12th. This will teach the youth about how the real world works. Only 100 hours per year required. Nearly 60% of the workforce in India is self-employed. See www.deispune.org
  7. Start Prevocational classes from Class 8th. Have Vocational Counsellors in all Higher Seconadary Schools. Upgrade all Higher Seconadry Schools for Vocational Education & Training.
  8. Have a dynamic interaction between all stake holders, Academia-Industry-Business-R&D-Chambers of Commerce-Student bodies-Parents organizations-Civil society and NGO’s. Chambers of Commerce, who represents the employers and business, must lead from the front.
  9. Allow private finance and participation in all sectors of education, till we reach the goals as mentioned under item 8 in section one above.
  10. Allow tax breaks and incentives for private and NRI funding, for the next 20 years or till we achieve bench marks as mentioned under item 8 in section one above.

                                                 Source : i watch – Transforming India

Kindly contact me forcomplete information & details of  i watch-Transfomring India book.

Ajay Singh Niranjan ( ajay_uor@yahoo.com)

i watch www.wakeupcall.org Education 1st

551, 2nd Floor , Mukherji Nagar, Delhi -110009

Posted in Employement Generation, India, Indian Education, Teachnical Education, Vision 2020, Vocational Education | 1 Comment »

Education Matrix of India

January 27, 2007

Preamble

  1. Rs 45,000 cr** per year is repatriated out of India, for nearly 1,90,000 Indian students studying abroad. [** these are estimated figures]
  2. Rs 3,000 cr is the yearly budget of the University Grants Commission, UGC, in New Delhi.
  3. Rs 3,000 cr** is spent by nearly 6,00,000 students trying to arrange and learn for the entrance examinations into the 7 IIT’s and the first 20 top IIM’s and Management Institutes. Selection rate is hardly 1.5% against nearly 10% in Ivy league colleges such as MIT, Harvard, Cambridge, Stanford etc.
  4. Rs 50,000 cr** is spent by Indians, every year, for import of 8,00,000 kgs. of Gold . So there is enough money to be spent by Indians for good things.
  5. Higher education is subsidized, while we still have 350 million as per GOI and 650 millions as per UNDP who are illiterate! Even after 56 years of Independence we have still not taken the first step in the path of education. The present definition of an ‘illiterate’, as defined in India, needs to be changed.
  6. Why should we pay only $45, per month, as fees in the IIT’s and depend on hand outs of the GOI, when our youth must pay $ 2000 to 3000 per month fees, in equivalent Institutions in the USA?
  7. The drop out rate between the Class 1st to the Class 10+2, is nearly 94% in India. The present system is designed ONLY for the balance 6%. How are the balance 94%, who drop out, supposed to manage?
  8. The present system puts in too much emphasis for the development of IQ [only 5% of brain used] and not enough into SQ and EQ
  9. We do not seem to be preparing our youth to face the International challenge of an open economy, which will happen in the next 2 to 5 years. One can find engineers, accountants, lawyers, MBA’s, graduates in Science, Commerce and Arts – but no skilled manpower in the 1800 different fields required by enterprises, to run the Nation! People are available. Most of them are not employable in India or outside!
  10. Education & Training is a life-long process and not meant to stop at an age of 20 or 22! In the progressive countries of the world, nearly 1 month per year is reserved for training/re-training and re-education, right up to an age of 55 or 60. The advantages of Training have still not been understood by the people of India.
  11. Education in India still considered as a social cause only. Fortunately, the Politicians have recognized Education as a good and lucrative business, as many of them are running a large number of Institutions.
  12. The problems of poor quality in education & training will not go away by controls, but by de-controls. High Capitation fees are there because of the number of seats available are much less than the actual demand. Market forces, supply and demand should balance the existence of Educational Institutions.
  13. Paradigm methods for funding of new educational infrastructure are not being considered. We need 30-year-low-interest-tax-free-infrastructure-bonds.
  14. In a developing nation like India, the higher you study, the more the subsidy you get from the state. Why should B. Com., B.Sc. B.A., etc be subsidized?

Recommendations

  1. Higher education should be ‘de-licensed’. AICTE should become a ‘enabler’ rather than a ‘controller’. License Raj to go, it is not serving any purpose, only a reason to stifle the growth of all types of higher education in India, and discourage excellence. Quality is achieved only with freedom.
  2. All subsidies for higher education must be removed. These funds should be recycled for Primary, Secondary, High School and ESD and VET only.
  3. Both ESD and VET promote higher levels of SQ and EQ. Many students, who do higher studies, as they work, understand how the world works. Here kids are doing higher studies without understanding the environment, maturity is not enough. Some times quality is poor, so is the confidence levels of the output.
  4. Foreign language, besides English, is a must. Eg., German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, etc…
  5. Work experience is a must, not only summer training. At least +2 years, after college for MBA, and another +2 years after Masters, for a PhD.
  6. Teachers and Professors must ‘shunt’ between college and enterprise. Cannot stay put only in one place. Stagnation leads to obsolescence!
  7. Funding of all types of higher education needs a paradigm shift of thinking. Privatize maximum. Do not ask for the source of funds for the next 20 years. Best teachers must be attracted to work in Educational Institutions. Reservation of up to 35% of the seats can be kept for Merit-cum-Poverty cases.
  8. Education is BIG Business any where in the world. About $2400 billion** per year, nearly 5 times the size of IT and software. If we can pick up only 10% of the world business, it will increase our GDP by 50%! This can be achieved in the next 10 to 15 years. Why should we allow Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia or Dubai to take away our business and jobs?
  9. India is ideally suited to become a HUB for education for Asian countries in the near future. Australia earns nearly $20 billion** per year on foreign students. [ this is nearly 40% of the entire export of India and nearly 200% of India’s software exports]
  10. Quality will improve only by deregulation and NOT by regulation and controls. Let there be a 100 IIT’s or a 100 IIM’s. The good institutions do not have to advertise and promise placements etc. The market knows best. Interaction between Institutions and Industry-Enterprise must be magnified 10 fold.
  11. Indian Institutions must bench mark with the rest of the world and NOT only with each other, in India! Foreign accreditation is required to improve ‘Governance’. ISO 9000 is not enough. Look at 6 sigma, etc.
  12. And lastly, Think Global but Act local! Which means, that we should get all the Best Ideas from all over the World and implement them to Indian conditions, for achieving the Best Results for the people of India.

The only Constant in Life is CHANGE!

                                           Source : i watch-Transforming India

Kindly write for more information & details for i watch-Transfomring India book.

Ajay Singh Niranjan ( ajay_uor@yahoo.com)

i watch www.wakeupcall.org Education 1st

551, 2nd Floor , Mukherji Nagar, Delhi -110009

Posted in Employement Generation, Governance, Human resourse development, Indian Education, Research & Development, Teachnical Education, Vocational Education | Leave a Comment »

Real & Virtual India – Transforming India

January 27, 2007

                                                   The Real India                           The Virtual India

Who stays here? People of
India in 35 states 		NRI’s & PIO’s in 5 continents
Gross domestic Product US$ 692 billion about US$ 240 billion
Per Capita Earning US$ 625/year/person about US$ 10,000/year/person
Savings Per Year US$ 100 billion** about US$ 75 – 80 billion**
INDIA’s external debt US$ 121 billion N.A.
Total FDI last Year (2005) US$ 6 billion N.A.
FDI investment by NRI’s US$ 0.2 billion (in 2004) N.A.
Population 1090 million 20 – 22 millions

1. Understanding the Real and Virtual India!
There are two India’s, one where we live and the other is the Virtual India, with an estimated GDP of US $ +240 billion per year, where about 20 to 25 million NRI’s and PIO’s live.Their hearts are in India and they are emotionally tied to India. If we can attract them and woo them, they could be a good source of funding projects for India’s growth plans.

The Chinese have learnt the art of wooing and managing their NRC’s who number about 55 to 50 million. Last year the NRC’s invested about US$ 70 billion into China + Hong Kong + Macau. India, inspite of its best efforts, received only US$ 0.2 billion from NRI’s last year!

India imports nearly US$ 8 to 10 billion worth of Gold every year. This means that we have imported nearly US$ 96 to 120 billion worth of Gold, in the last 12 years, since liberalization of the economy.

We should try to find ways to ‘funnel’ this retail investment into more economical areas, to benifit the Nation and it’s people.

2. How has China managed to get large FDI inflows from the NRC’s?
Maybe, there is a lesson to be learnt by us, as to how China is able to woo its NRC’s!
The largest banks in Hong Kong, HSBC and Standard Chartered, may be able to throw some light on how the NRC’s have been able to invest so much in to China and Hong Kong.

• FDI …. means – Foreign Direct Investment • US$ 1 billion is Rs. 4900 crores
• NRI …. means – Non Resident Indian • N.A ….. means not applicable
• NRC … means – Non Resident Chinese • **means , estimated figures
• PIO …. means – People of India Origin
3. India’s POT of GOLD —how can we get it back?
It is estimated that a large amount of “Indian Money”, is lying outside India, due to poor governance & administration of India and due to past regimes of controls and high taxation. If India can put its “House in Order”, to near World Class Standards, a substantial part of this money could easily come back to drive the Indian economy.

Unofficial estimates of Indian funds lying outside, range from US$ 400 billion to US$ 800 billion! India’s total foreign debt is about US$121 billion.

The interest rates are very low in the international markets and interest rates are also dropping in India. NRI’s and PIO’s would be interested to invest in Indian paper with reasonable rate of interest and attartive tax incentives.

The Indian Central and State Governments should plan for 10-15-20 year Infrastructure Bonds, with a coupon rate of 4 to 5%, both for domestic Citizens as well as for NRI’s, with tax breaks and incentives. Or it could be a floating rate, based on some standard base rate, + a premium of 100 to150 basis points.

India requires US$ 500 to US$800 billion for Education, Health Care, connecting the Water Ways and Rivers, for Ports, Airports, Railways and Roads.

After the 2nd World war, when Germany was devasted, the German Government came out with a similar scheme to build the Nation. China has had a novel scheme for many years. It may be a good time to consider such proposals. The present rate of borrowing for Infrastructure Projects is too high!

4. Only Good Governance and Effective Administration can attract higher FDI into India and induce money to flow back.

Kindly write for more complete information & details of i watch-Transformaing India booklet.

Ajay Singh Niranjan ( ajay_uor@yahoo.com)

i watch www.wakeupcall.org Education 1st

551, 2nd Floor , Mukherji Nagar, Delhi -110009

Posted in Education, India, Indian Education, Indian NGO | 1 Comment »

Will Foreign Universities Come to India?

January 27, 2007

For decades, the country has sent its best and brightest away to study, sometimes never to return. Now leaders want the schools to come to them

For decades, India’s whiz kids with the financial means have packed up and headed off to foreign universities for their higher education. Many never come back, creating a huge diaspora of talent abroad. Around 150,000 students are currently studying in the U.S., Britain, Australia, and elsewhere. An additional 100,000 depart every year to pursue foreign degrees at a cumulative cost in tuition and housing of about $4 billion on average every year.

But what if the best universities—such as Yale, Stanford, Oxford, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the London School of Economics—could more easily set up campuses, hire faculty, and conduct research in India? It would open up world-class education and managerial training to a wider swathe of Indian society, where the number of college degrees on a per capita basis is low compared with China. A fast-track economy such as India’s needs a deep pool of skilled managers to secure its economic future.

That’s precisely the argument that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government is making in trying to open up the country’s heavily regulated educational system to foreign direct investment. Singh’s new Commerce Secretary, Gopal Krishna Pillai, thinks Indian competitiveness is being held back and Indian families are needlessly paying huge sums to educate their kids abroad.

GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT.  So why not bring a Harvard or Oxford to India? “If they are allowed to set up shop in our country, this money can be saved,” Pillai told reporters last month.

Yet this being India, things are not so simple. India’s Union Human Resource Development Ministry, which has a big say in national educational policy, isn’t thrilled by the idea. It wants the government to closely regulate educational offerings from abroad and set faculty salaries of any foreign university settling in the country.

Then there is the issue of whether India’s controversial quota system that reserves coveted seats at universities for underprivileged castes would extend to overseas schools entering the market (see BusinessWeek.com, 5/19/06, “India’s Affirmative Action Rocks the Boat”). These issues and others have held foreign higher education investment back, despite the government’s lifting of FDI restrictions back in 2001.

SIXTY BELOW TWENTY-FIVE.  What’s clear is that India needs a dramatic upgrade of its system of state universities and private colleges. True, the various Indian Institute of Technology campuses are world-class and have long turned the country’s smartest kids into stars. But that is an exception, and competition for those slots is ferocious.

Few would dispute that India needs better schools to meet the needs of the world’s largest pool of young people. Some 60% of India’s 1 billion-plus population is below the age of 25.

And there are concerns about the quality of Indian students emerging from the domestic higher education system. A study last year by McKinsey concluded that only 25% of India-trained engineers and 15% of the system’s finance and accounting professionals had the skill set to work for a multinational company.

FILLING POSITIONS.  Even Indian companies have started to complain and are hiring foreign talent for critical positions. “With our rigid boundaries in education, we are losing out enormously in a changing environment,” says Indira Parekh, president of a soon-to-be-launched group called the Foundation for Liberal & Management Education in Pune.

This could hurt India’s phenomenal success in generating growth from the global outsourcing trend in software design and back office operations. McKinsey and the India IT industry group Nasscom have estimated that India has the potential to grab 50% of the estimated $110 billion global outsourcing market expected by 2010. But it will need a quality workforce to do so.

Right now the picture isn’t promising. India’s educational system in rural areas is in desperate need of investment. Nationwide, only 15% of the 200 million-plus student population makes it to high school, and only half those students actually graduate.

TEACH LOCALLY.  In the 17-to-23-year-old age group, only 11% (or 10.5 million students) sign up for higher education. Compare that to other developing economies: 13% in China, 31% in Philippines, 27% in Malaysia, and 19% in Thailand. New Delhi’s annual budget for higher education is $2 billion, or 0.37% of GDP, which also lags most other countries in the region.

All this is why bringing the best foreign universities to India makes so much sense in the eyes of many. “If the students can’t move to the schools, the schools will move to the students,” says Subir Gokarn, chief economist at India’s largest rating agency, Crisil. (Like BusinessWeek.com, Crisil is a unit of The McGraw Hill Cos. (MHP ).) Big foreign universities have shown interest in India—it is the third biggest educational market in terms of enrollment behind China and the U.S.

Harvard’s Southeast Asia Initiative in Bombay was set up last year not just to facilitate research for its faculty in India, but to also provide the India experience for its interns. Sanjiv Kaura, director of the Harvard program, thinks there is potential not only to educate Indian undergrads but also to provide post-graduate and executive education programs for Indian politicians and business execs. “In a fast-paced life, people want to reflect in an academic setting,” he says.

STUDENTS WAITING.  Already, foreign schools are starting to set up field offices and research centers to explore the possibilities of bigger investment down the road. The Indian School of Business in the southern state of Hyderabad was set up in 2001 in association with Kellogg, Wharton, and London Business School for managerial training.

Two years ago the University of Michigan’s business school opened an economic research center in Bangalore. “These efforts will not only improve market size but quality of education,” says M Shrikant, dean of the S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research, the Bombay business school that has opened campuses in Dubai and Singapore.

Will foreign universities be allowed to take the next step and set up campuses for an array of undergraduate courses? A lot depends on whether New Delhi will remove the regulations standing in the way. Plenty of Indian students would certainly stay at home if they could earn a quality foreign degree at a fraction of the cost of heading overseas.

Lakshman covers India business for BusinessWeek

Posted in Indian Education, Research & Development, Teachnical Education | 4 Comments »

« Older Entries